Casuals: Liverpool exhibition shows era-defining football subculture

Many of the works look at the fashions worn by the casuals

An exhibition is to show how a section of football fans used trainers and sports tops to convey identity and created an era-defining subculture.

Art of the Terraces at Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery tells the story of "casuals", who swapped club colours for designer labels and "defined sports culture of the 1970s, 80s and 90s". 

It will include more than 100 graphic designs, paintings and fashion items.

Organisers said it would look at both the subculture and its legacy.

The subculture is believed to have grown out of the fashions Liverpool fans brought back from European away days

The casuals first appeared on the football terraces of the 1970s and the subculture is believed to have been started by Liverpool fans, who would bring back French and Italian designer clothing after going to the Reds' European away matches

As it spread to other clubs, it was linked to hooliganism, as the fashions helped fans blend in with crowds, rather than standing out in football shirts.

Fashion trends could change rapidly from week to week, and followers would keep up, swapping the expensive trainers and tracksuits they were wearing on Monday for a different label's fashion by the following Saturday.

Trainers form an important part of the identity of the casual

What labels casuals wore often changed week-by-week and the subculture's followers had to buy to keep up

A gallery representative said the exhibition would celebrate a scene "that has been overlooked by the mainstream art world, but which has created its own dynamic art forms and which is now credited with the mass popularisation of sportswear as leisurewear".

They added that the show will include works by "leading contemporary artists", such as Leo Fitzmaurice, Pete McKee, Lucy McKenzie, Ross Muir, Dave White and Turner Prize winners Mark Leckey and Mark Wallinger.

While many casuals were men and boys, there were women and girls who also embraced the subculture

The subculture was linked with both fashion and hooliganism

Head of Decorative Arts at National Museums Liverpool, Pauline Rushton, said it had been an ambition "for a long time to hold an exhibition of this kind at the Walker".

"Terrace culture originated among football fans here in the North West in the 1970s, and it's difficult to overemphasise quite how far-reaching its influence has become," she said.

"We'll consider the highs and lows of going to the match, and the sense of identity and belonging that could be discovered and signalled to others through wearing a certain pair of trainers or branded sports top."

Art of the Terraces opens at the Walker Art Gallery on 5 November.